Why any play-offs disappointment can only serve to highlight success of Sunderland season

The play-offs may be slipping away from Sunderland, but optimism should be the prevailing emotion.

Author:
Michael Graham
Publish date:
Apr 19, 2023 5:43 AM EDT

Sunderland saw their play-offs hopes take a battering in the draw against Huddersfield, but as the minutes ticked away it only became more evident how well they have done to have any at all.

The sheer size of the club makes ambition and expectation a way of life for Sunderland. It has always been this way. There is, after all, absolutely no reason why Sunderland cannot be a force in English football – at least.

That’s not to say they have any right to that, of course. Nobody does. All I mean is that there is nothing that should hold the club back. The fanbase is there, the facilities are there, the passion is there, the presence and gravitas is there.

That said, perspective is also important, and the fact remains that this time last year Sunderland were in the third tier and not even looking especially good within it. A quick check of history will make it evident just how well Sunderland have done this year. Very few newly promoted clubs have challenged for back-to-back promotions to the Premier League.

So, to be in Sunderland’s position even in the best of circumstances would be an achievement. To do it in the actual circumstances is remarkable.

The Sunderland squad has been stretched to such an extent this season that the team on the pitch for the dying minutes against Huddersfield was barely recognisable.

It contained three players yet to make a start in the Championship (Joe Anderson, Isaac Lihadji and Tommy Watson) and another, Anthony Patterson, still playing his first full season in senior football.

Even the more experienced players are deceptively raw and unproven. Dan Neil was making his 100^th appearance for Sunderland, but is still in his first season at Championship level. Luke O’Nien is also yet to complete a campaign in the second tier. For all Amad Diallo’s obvious quality, he is also essentially playing his first full season in senior football. Trai Hume only broke into the team four months ago.

Even Lynden Gooch, who is an experienced grizzled veteran by Sunderland standards, was playing out of position.

It is easy to point a finger of blame, but you have to really want to. Granted, the Sunderland recruitment team left the squad short on strikers, and injuries are something you have to expect when you build out a squad. The sheer volume of injuries, though? There’s not a team in the league that would not be majorly impacted.

Just compare, for example, the team of out outfield players that finished the game against Huddersfield to the following: Ballard, Batth, Alese; Huggins, Evans, Michut, Cirkin; Bennette, Stewart, Embleton.

All of those players were unavailable to Tony Mowbray for the end of that game. Even Bailey Wright, who was finishing the season out on loan at Rotherham, is injured.

Hope of sneaking into the play-offs is not gone entirely of course. A win at WBA next week, tough as that would be, and the chase would very much be on again. If it died with Huddersfield’s equaliser, though, I can very easily make peace with it.

The players and coaching staff have delivered well above expectations this season and there is legitimate cause for serious optimism going into the summer.

Yes, there is work to be done in the transfer market, particularly in terms of adding more striker options to the squad, and Amad Diallo will be a huge miss. However, the likes of Neil, Hume, Alese, Michut (assuming he stays) and Patterson will return much better players for getting this season under their belts.

Meanwhile, others like Abdoullah Ba, Pierre Ekwah, Bennette, Lihadji will be ready to take more on their shoulders too, and all the injured contingent barring Corry Evans will be back in the fold.

Is there disappointment that a potential promotion campaign has slipped away? Probably, but the very existence of that is testament to how much the club have achieved this season.

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